PARIS (AP) — Le Monde newspaper says documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. The French government has summoned the U.S. ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies.
The report Monday, co-written by Glenn Greenwald who originally revealed the NSA surveillance program, found that when certain numbers were used, the conversations were automatically recorded. The surveillance operation also swept up text messages based on key words, Le Monde reported, based on records from Dec. 10 to Jan 7.
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Similar programs have been revealed in Britain and Germany.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he would demand an explanation for a practice he described as "totally unacceptable."